$80 Per Week in 2010 — Week 15

I’m on a mission this year: spend $80 or less per week on groceries for my family of four! After reconciling all our expenses for 2009, all the while remembering the splurges during a special family celebration and replenishing of food storage, I realized I could and would do better in 2010. With the skills I’ve obtained, and the deals on some web sites I’ve discovered, “I hereby pledge to lower my food budget this year!”

Lots of deals this week. I pared my list down, since we’re blessed to have full pantries and freezers, but it was a week of eating lots of fresh vegs like spinach, zuke, cauli and peppers. So the produce part of my groceries was very high. Still, I was under budget!

I’ve noticed prices for packaged foods are on a “growth spurt” again, and even with coupons and a sale, they have potential to do some real budget damage. Fortunately, fresh basic foods are the core of the eating plan I went back to (those birthday party pizzas yesterday “are not the droids you’re looking for”). Strawberries were .99/@ at Aldi, but the didn’t fare long, and I hope we get better qualty real soon. Bananas were on good sales this week, so we’re eating lots of those. The romaine I’m finding is darker and fuller, too.

Now that the Feinstein Challenge is coming to a close, and Scouting for Food has been collected, there’s one more big event for you to help local food pantries. The USPS letter carriers will be collecting food donations at your home mailboxes for Stamp Out Hunger, on May 8. Please give generously, and take advantage of the deals you see here.

This week for just food I spent $78.94 — just under my $80 budget. (This puts me at $158.59 underbudget for the year!) Most of my dollars went to fresh produce, a yogurt sale, and an unexpected butter deal. And, okay, I’ll admit it, there was a sale and coupons for the Banquet fruit pies, and I think I have a new obsession — I have several in the back of the freezer that I’m going to try to save for grill-outs (berry pie w/ice cream!). Don’t judge! Anyway, here’s how my purchases played out:

Aldi: I did start back with four gallons of milk this week, which are still 1.79, thank goodness. The strawberries were a find, but I had to search the packages for a decent one. Same with the cauliflower, which was 1.39. I found the butter deal here — 1# quarters for 1.40 and unsalted! Eggs went up to 1.18.

Another super deal at Aldi, which was not part of my grocery budget, was a patio glider. Ultimately, I found this to be a challenge, but managed to put it together on a rare afternoon alone. It’s quite sturdy, and nice-looking. Great deal for $50.

No Frills: Yogurt, yogurt, everywhere, in my fridge now. Yoplait 6 oz., on sale .50, less $1/10 store coupon, less manuf coupons (combinations of different ones), made them about .43 each, and they are perfect for lunches. I PMed Banquet pot pies and fruit pies here for .48 less coupons for .38 pot pies and .34 fruit pies. And I found McCormick Grillmates Montreal steak seasoning for 1.88 less $1 coupon = .88!

Walmart: Just some broccoli crowns, and 11 more fruit pies. Believe it or not, my total here was only 3.25.

BagNSave: I did the Kellogg’s cereal deal, and got two Raisin Bran, plus a FREE reusable Tucan Sam bag, less coupons, for 2.44. I also got the turkey sausage I needed for my eating plan’s breakfast, some produce, and buns for .48 for #2’s birthday burgers this week. Eggs here were 1.44 (compare to Aldi’s at 1.18). Hmm.

That’s the rundown. How did you do this week? Share a comment with us.